


Avoiding James

by iamisaac



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-06
Updated: 2016-01-06
Packaged: 2018-05-12 05:03:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5653387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamisaac/pseuds/iamisaac
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Teddy is avoiding James. James is desperate to know why.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Avoiding James

_James_  
Teddy had been avoiding him for days. You wouldn’t have thought it was that easy in the Potters’ house – it wasn’t exactly the biggest house ever – but Teddy was managing. Either he was in a big group of people, safe from anything private James might want to say, or he was in his room. With the door warded and locked. If that wasn’t a hint, James didn’t know what was. But James had to talk to him, and when he saw Teddy amble towards the stairs, he followed him, slipping through the open door to Teddy’s bedroom before the other young man had a chance to close it.

“What?” demanded Teddy, glaring at him.

“I want to talk to you.”

“The feeling is not mutual.”

James winced. He’d kind of got that impression, but somehow it was different with Teddy saying it out loud. No room for misunderstandings there.

“Just… tell me what I’ve done,” he asked. “I need to know. Please, Teddy. Is it because I’m an arrogant prick, as Al tells me on a regular basis? That I’ve managed to say something which is outstandingly offensive, even by my standards? That I’m just a shit lay? Tell me.”

*  
_Teddy_  
Teddy looked at him. _Please, Teddy._ James never liked begging for something, but he’d done it now. He’d done it once before recently, too – and that was the problem. And Teddy had no idea what to say in return.

**_flashback_ **

Teddy’s in the pub in Hogsmeade, drinking as much firewhiskey as he can get down himself. He knew before he started out that morning that the Ministry had sent him on a false trail, and what’s more, he has the feeling that his boss knew it too – and sent him anyway. They’ve never got on, and she has the power to win these petty victories, which makes it even worse.

“Hey.” James slides into the seat next to him. "You don’t look like that drink’s doing anything for you.”

Teddy looks up. “What are you doing here?”

James grins. “Head Boy’s privilege, isn’t it? I said I wanted to do some Christmas shopping.”

Teddy looks at his watch. “At 9pm?”

“Gotta take advantage where I can,” James retorts. “It’s driving me mad having to be good all the time at Hogwarts. I can stay out till 11pm. Last of the big partiers, that’s me.” He looks up at Teddy. “So, what’s up with you?”

Teddy tells him. James is always good at listening. Teddy knows that’s at least partly because James has a thing for him – has done for years. Teddy generally tries not to take advantage of that, but he’s at the bottom of his third firewhiskey, and he’s in a more than averagely pissed off mood, and frankly, he just doesn’t care. 

They get another set of drinks in. Teddy notices that James is flirting with him. Subtly, nothing too over-whelming, but it feels kind of nice. James is cute; he’s really cute. If he weren’t Harry’s son, and still at school, Teddy would be totally in there. As it is, he tries to hang back. Usually.

James puts a hand on Teddy’s knee. Teddy doesn’t push it away. They drink a bit more. James looks at his watch, and stands up. His eyes meet Teddy’s with a look of such desperate hope in them that Teddy forgets his good intentions, forgets that getting off with his godfather’s son is a really bad plan, forgets it all. Takes James outside, down a little back street. No lamp posts. Just the starlight. Pushes James against the wall and snogs the living daylights out of him.

James responds. James is hot and wanton and frantic and it is much too good. The last remnants of Teddy’s sensible mind slide away as James slides to his knees, opening Teddy’s robes and looking up at him. James’s mouth is warm and slick, and Teddy’s cock is hard and throbbing. He tries to let James set the pace, but he can’t help himself after a bit, thrusting into James’s mouth over and over again until he’s on the point of coming.

But Teddy still wants more. He drags James to his feet, turning him round so that he’s facing the wall. Casts a lubrication spell, shoves James’s clothes aside and pushes two fingers into him. James makes a little sound – need? pain? – and it’s too good.

“Tell me to stop,” Teddy says, trying to gather his wandering wits.

“Don’t stop. Teddy, please – don’t stop.”

 _Teddy please._ So Teddy doesn’t. He doesn’t even take the time to open James properly, just thrusts inside him. There’s sweat pooling at James’s neck at this possession of him; Teddy leans down and licks a stripe across it. Salty, sweet, just like James. He fucks him hard, his hand clasped round James’s cock. James is making more noises, and this is so good – work is forgotten, vows are forgotten, everything is forgotten apart from fucking James Sirius Potter. He comes; and he knows from the warmth on his fingers that James has come too. They stand there in the darkness a bit longer. Teddy casts a cleaning spell – he’s good at those. James turns round and looks at him, and the sweat must be cooling on his back now, because he’s shivering a bit. And Teddy can see the trace of tears on James’s face.

That’s what he will remember later – the tears. The tightness of James. The fact that Teddy has just fucked his godfather’s virgin son in some sordid back alley, and made him cry. 

James blinks at him a few times, an uncertain smile on his face. 

“Thanks,” he says quietly. 

And Teddy has gone from drunk to sober in about ten seconds flat, and is realising what he’s just done – what a bloody awful thing he’s just done. 

“Shouldn’t you be getting back?” he asks, knowing it sound harsh. 

James nods. “Yes. You’ll be home at Christmas?” 

“Yes.” Teddy is curt, monosyllabic. 

James smiles again, reaches a hand up to Teddy’s face for a second. “See you there.”  
And James is gone. 

*  
_James_  
Teddy shrugged. “Nothing. There’s nothing wrong.”

James laughed harshly. “Sure. That’s why you’re treating me like some kind of pariah.” He tried to swallow past the big lump which had somehow got stuck in his throat. “I thought,” he said with difficulty; “I kind of hoped…” He trailed off, wanting Teddy to finish the sentence for him.

Predictably, Teddy did nothing of the sort. James would have thought that he was totally unmoved, except that Teddy’s hair was doing that thing of switching haphazardly between colours, which was usually a sign of stress.

“After…” James said, hopelessly.

Teddy looked at him for the first time, an expression which was almost anger, but not quite, in his face. James couldn’t read him, and James was used to ‘getting’ Teddy like almost no one else on earth.

“You’re still at school,” Teddy hissed at him.

James jerked backwards. The venom in Teddy’s voice shocked him. “I’m eighteen. I’ve been an adult wizard for more than a year. Yes, I’m still at school, but does that really matter?”

“I’m twenty-five. Harry’s my _godfather_. You’re practically my kid brother.”

“ _What_?” demanded James, loudly.

“Shut up,” muttered Teddy. “Merlin, this conversation is difficult enough without Harry barging in to see why we’re having a blazing row.”

“So what if he does?” snapped James.

“Yeah, I can see that going down really well,” Teddy said with blazing sarcasm. “Oh hi, Harry, I’m just talking to your son about how I fucked him in a dark alley and took his virginity. But that’s just fine with you, yeah?”

James felt his heartbeat racing. “That’s what’s bothering you?” he asked slowly. “That I hadn’t done it before?”

“God.” Teddy sat on the bed, and put his head in his hands. “Where do I even start with this?”

“Anywhere would be better than where we are now,” James said. He slumped to the floor, his back against the door. “There. Now Dad can’t come in without warning. Happy?”

“Bloody ecstatic.” Teddy’s hair had gone a mouse-brown colour. He looked like someone had just kicked him. “Okay, so Harry trusts me to look after you. Instead, I drag you out on the street and bugger you till you cry. I saw you’d been crying, James. I fucking hurt you. What the hell was I thinking? Oh wait, I was thinking with my cock. Well, that’s just bloody brilliant, isn’t it?”

James had worked out what the expression on Teddy’s face, the sound in his voice, was. It was self-hatred. Teddy, of all people. Who was the most amazing person he’d ever known. Whom he’d been in love with for more years than he could even remember.

“Ted,” he said tentatively, “I’m eighteen. I’m a grown wizard. I get to make my own decisions. I don’t know whether you noticed this, but I wasn’t exactly fighting you off.” He swallowed again. “I thought it was pretty amazing, if you must know.”

“You were crying.”

“Yeah, we’ve covered that,” James said, feeling himself blushing. “I can’t help it. Yes, it made my eyes water a bit, and I don’t exactly have stack loads of experience, as you have so kindly pointed out, but I…” He broke off. Then, reminding himself that he was supposed to be sounding like a grown up, not like a kid. “I liked it, okay? A lot. I was… hoping we might repeat it. Maybe even this Christmas. Except you’ve been treating me like I’ve grown an extra head, which has kind of spoiled that idea.”

*  
_Teddy_  
Teddy looked at James, who stared back at him unflinchingly.

“God, I’m so sorry,” he said.

James made a show of rolling his eyes. “Oh for fuck’s sake.” 

He hefted himself up from the floor, went across to the bed and pressed his mouth against Teddy’s, kissing him full and firm on the lips. And God, it felt good to have James kiss him like that. Teddy was suddenly remembering all the parts of that night in early December which he’d been expunging from his mind, blocking with guilt. James tasted good, even without firewhiskey warming him inside. In fact, James was doing a much better job of warming him inside than any amount of alcohol had ever done. He opened his mouth under James’s and wound a hand round the younger man’s head. And there was silence, and a much better silence than the one there had been between them for the last few days. Finally, James pulled away.

“Does that get the message across at all better?” he asked. “I _wanted_ you to do it. I still want you to do it. And for what it’s worth, you are definitely no brother of mine. I’ve got one of those: he’s a pain in the arse and he’s called Albus. I want you to be something very different.”

“You’re still at school,” Teddy objected feebly.

“Yeah, for about six months more. I’m of age, I’m not a total idiot, no matter what you think, and I fancy the hell out of you. Is it really that complicated?”

And Teddy thought, for the first time, that actually, maybe it wasn’t.


End file.
